News

ASLA Names Eight New Honorary Members

Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy, Bette Midler among the honorees

2005-05-16

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 16, 2005—The Board of Trustees
of the American Society of Landscape Architects has selected
eight individuals to receive honorary membership. Honorary
membership is one of the highest honors ASLA may bestow upon
non-landscape architects, and since its founding in 1899,
the Society has conferred honorary membership upon only 90
individuals. The 2005 honorees received their certificates
on May 13 at a dinner in their honor in Washington, D.C.

Randall Arendt, Honorary ASLA, of
Amherst, Massachusetts, is a town planner by training
and serves as an adjunct professor at the University
of Massachusetts. He has worked for more than three
decades as an author, educator, and site designer, defining
and illustrating a more creative, environmentally responsible
approach to land planning. Arendt has long promoted
the belief that landscape architects should be the lead
designers of conservation subdivisions, with engineers
playing a subordinate, supporting role on the planning
team until the stage when engineering details are prepared.
He has served on ASLA's Professional Awards Jury and
last year was named a Fellow of the Royal Institute
of Planners in London.

Charles Eliot Beveridge, PhD, Honorary ASLA,
of Washington, D.C., is the leading authority on the
work of Frederick Law Olmsted, the founder of the landscape
architecture profession. Since 1986, he has been the
series editor of the Olmsted Papers Project at American
University, a 12-volume series published by Johns Hopkins
Press. Beveridge has presented more than 100 lectures
on Olmsted and his firm to public, professional, and
academic audiences. He has served as the historical
and design consultant on the restoration and rehabilitation
of some 40 Olmsted parks, public grounds, and other
designs and has co-curated numerous exhibitions on Olmsted.

Edward A. Feiner, FAIA, Honorary ASLA,
of Washington, D.C., is the former chief architect of
the General Services Administration, provided national
leadership for our nation’s design and construction
activities for many years. His legacy will ensure that
the dignity of our nation is reflected in its public
buildings. Recognizing that security design should also
incorporate good design, Feiner joined ASLA in planning,
sponsoring, and participating in two symposia on the
subject. He is now the director of the Washington Center
for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Barbara A. King, Honorary ASLA, of
Delano, Minnesota, is the president of Landscape Structures
Inc., has referred to landscape architects as "the salt
of the earth and unsung heroes (who) literally change
the way we look at the world." Founded in 1971, Landscape
Structures is one of the leading play equipment manufacturers
in the world and among ASLA's strongest supporters.
In addition to her support of the landscape architecture
profession through ASLA, King personally sponsors a
yearly scholarship at her alma mater, Iowa State University,
for a landscape architect student showing initiative
as an entrepreneur.

William C. Main, Honorary ASLA, of
Kalamazoo, Michigan, is president of Landscape Forms,
has been an active and generous supporter of student
landscape architecture programs, the Michigan ASLA chapter,
national ASLA programs, and the Landscape Architecture
Foundation for many years. Main's company, Landscape
Forms, Inc., is one of the premier designers and manufacturers
of outdoor commercial furnishings in the world and actively
seeks input from the landscape architecture profession
in designing products that respond to the needs of the
practice

Ed McMahon, Honorary ASLA, of Washington,
D.C., is an attorney by training and is a nationally
renowned author and speaker on land conservation and
urban design. McMahon was recently named the Urban Land
Institute's Charles Fraser Senior Fellow for Sustainable
Development. He is also the co-founder and former president
of Scenic America, a national nonprofit organization
devoted to protecting America's scenic landscapes. In
a recent speech, McMahon said, "If you think green space
is expensive, just imagine the future costs for clean
air, clean water, and healthy natural systems if we
don't invest in green infrastructure today."

Bette Midler, Honorary ASLA, of New
York City, is best known as a singer and actress, but
in the past decade she has also become a tireless crusader
for good stewardship of public spaces. In 1995, she
created the New York Restoration Project to reverse
the decay of New York City's parks, roadways, and open
spaces and remains personally committed to restoring
hundreds of acres of the city's public realm back to
a healthy and attractive condition. Over the past 10
years, the New York Restoration Project has raised more
than $18 million for New York parks and has a number
of vibrant programs under way, including teaching young
people about the importance of the parks and training
them to care for them.

The Honorable Tom Murphy, Honorary ASLA,
Mayor of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has transformed the
physical environment of the city of Pittsburgh in his
three terms as mayor. The fruits of his labor can be
seen in the redevelopment of the riverfront, in the
expansion of the city's recreational facilities and
trails, in the newly upgraded and much safer city playgrounds,
in the economic development of the city's industrial
brownfield sites, and in the master planning for the
city's four large regional parks. Throughout his tenure,
he has been a stalwart supporter of landscape architecture
and the profession.

Founded in 1899, ASLA is the national professional association
for landscape architects representing more than 15,000 members.
Landscape architecture is a comprehensive discipline of land
analysis, planning, design, management, preservation, and
rehabilitation. ASLA promotes the landscape architecture profession
and advances the practice through advocacy, education, communication,
and fellowship. Learn more about landscape architects at www.asla.org.